By There’s nothing I love more than a juicy memoir. Add in political drama and a bad romance, and you’ve got my attention.
From the Corner of the Oval is Beck Dorey-Stein’s memoir of her experience as a stenographer for the Obama administration. Admittedly, the idea of a stenographer’s memoir didn’t sound appealing, but what Dorey-Stein shares about her years in the White House is a story that is ultimately relatable. There’s hard love, hard work, hard partying, and the hard journey of finding yourself.
Although the story of self-discovery is one we all know, the setting of Air Force One and global meetings with heads of state, makes these story refreshingly new. Dorey-Stein’s writes in a colloquial, yet educated way, that it reads like a long conversation with one of your closest, funniest friends, who happens to be on a first name basis with the President.
I loved following the story around the world and getting to know the cast of characters in the administration. You get to know the people you’ve seen on TV or heard on podcasts, as humans, rather than politicos. You travel the world with them, stay up too late with them, get hungover with them, root for them, and navigate a career with an expiration date with them.
Dorey-Stein also details the strange world of dating in DC, which does not sound appealing. Her dating story really reminds me of Sex and the City, but in a good way. Dorey-Stein our Carrie (but less insufferable) and an older colleague, her non-committal Big. I found myself yelling at her wanting her to see what my vantage point showed about this relationship.
What I appreciate about this story, is how honest Dorey-Stein is with her readers. You can feel her optimism about her job in every page, but through her self-depreciating humor, you know she doesn’t take herself too seriously. She is vulnerable and extremely raw when detailing her mistakes and her painful journey to self love. Although her story is in a unique setting, it’s utterly relatable.
Team Bookworm 